Develop Productive and Useful Habits to Make You Become More Studious Over Time
Going to school and then university, you might’ve noticed students that just stood out no matter what they did. Most likely, these people were high scorers that excelled in academics, clubs, and extracurricular activities simultaneously. For the average person, these people resemble otherworldly beings that have taken refuge on earth, presumably to advance this planet enough to go back home. However, in reality, these students are simply a lot more organized and systematic than regular students, and the best part is you can follow their patterns too. Learning is the main goal of academics, and this is also part of the same process.
Steps
- Wake up on time. While you may be accustomed to getting up early to go to college or school, you also need to maintain the same habit during weekends and holidays. Waking up early in the morning is extremely beneficial as it develops discipline, and gives you more time to use constructively. Another positive of waking up early is that if you live with a roommate or family, you can study or work much more effectively in silence. Waking up early and making it a habit also makes you a lot more alert and sets a routine that is not only healthy but also practical.
- Establish a proper schedule. In connection with the previous point, if you have a lot more time available to tackle different tasks, you need to schedule it properly to avoid messing up. Just because you have time to spare doesn't mean you spend it all on work, and intervals for rest and recuperation also needed. For instance, if you have woken up at 5:30 in the morning, you will need to schedule tasks that can only be done in the mornings earlier and other tasks later in the day. Ideally, you should try to establish a schedule on your smartphone, and keep some slots open for sudden tasks that show up.
- Do not procrastinate. Arguably the biggest enemy for any professional or academic individual, procrastination refers to the delaying of study and workover tasks that give pleasure and happiness. A procrastinator would routinely play video games, and watch movies at any time that is available to them, instead of using that time to work and being productive.
- Although playing games for an hour or two after a hectic study session is completely justified, you need to put in effort first and then reap the benefits. You can make an imaginary currency in your mind that is replenished with work, and spent on recreation, till a strong habit forms.
- Analyze your assignments. When your professor or teacher hands you an assignment, the first thing that comes to mind for most students is “not another assignment again”. This thought is a normal reaction towards stressful subjects, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible to complete. A better way of looking at assignments are opportunities to test out your skills and as a way of analyzing the topic. More than often, what you receive for assignments is quite similar to what is usually asked in examinations. Also, the knowledge gained from one assignment can be used to clarify a future assignment as well.
- Assess your understandings. One of the most indispensable parts of being a good student and the learner is to routinely test your understanding of core course concepts. You can do this effortlessly using past exam papers, and by using resources available online. However, most students simply rely on rote memorization, expecting it to be the key to higher grades.
- That isn't really the case as exams and tests serve to test your understandings rather than memory. Once your concepts are clear, you no longer have to memorize anything, as the neural pathway leading to that topic is already established. All that's left is for the question to trigger it.
- Do not neglect sleep. If you were to estimate how much sleep a top performer needs on an average day, you would probably say 4-6 hours. After all, the time spent sleeping is much better off studying and doing assignments, right? Wrong. There is a massive correlation between the amount of sleep someone gets and how well they perform and the results speak for themselves.
- Typically, high scorers tend to study for 4-6 hours intensely, focusing on nothing other than their studies while minimizing distractions. After that, they sleep for upwards of 8-9 hours. This allows an ample amount of time for their brains to transfer short term memories for long term storage.
- Keep your knowledge updated. If you were to show someone an essay written by an expert and a beginner, there would be one big telltale sign that sets them apart. An essay written by a beginner would simply be a regurgitation of facts and figures and would feature very little insight into what the author thinks on their own. #*However, an essay written by an expert would be a thorough reflection on a topic and feature several observations made during the research process. Ideally, your research should be your effort, but a complicated topic such as law might require appropriate law dissertation help. Your assessors are looking forward to assessing your understanding of a concept, and not your memory.
- Be aware in lectures. Whenever your professor is conducting a lecture in class, it will serve you well to keep your ears open and your mouth closed. In many lectures, professors are dropping hints to the concepts and topics that are going to be tested during the exams. During sessions, while the professor is speaking out loud, minor suggestions such as reading some additional material, or researching on a particular topic should be taken as clues to the contents of an exam paper. If you follow this process accurately, you will notice that more often than not, exams indeed emphasized the topics spoken about in class.
- Have hobbies and interests. Just as rest is important for your body, recreation is necessary for your brain to run effectively. Regardless of how sharp a student is, no one really can study for more than a few hours a day. However, the energy expended during that session of study can be regained in by doing something you love.
- For many, watching a good movie or playing in an online gaming session does the trick quite well. A major benefit of attending to your hobbies is to avoid falling victim to procrastination and maintaining your sanity in the long term
- Never complain, always challenge. See, spending life as a student is undoubtedly going to be tough and is going to need every ounce of effort you can muster. However, making a fuss about every single thing under the sun simply not a sign of a good student. In case you have any concerns, you can look up different sources online, or if you are a law student, search for law dissertation help and get the help that way.
